Final 2013 BCS Rankings: Florida State And Auburn Finish Year On Top

The BCS was never much more than a result of the staples that have long ruled college football — tradition, formality and prestige. Pair teams that should play each other together in a bowl, sure, but make sure they’re also the biggest names.

As the BCS sings its swan song, habits that seem old — like the SEC always being in the driver’s seat for the national title — are actually recent developments of the BCS era. But in 2013 it looked like there might be a chance to end the streak just before the BCS met its own end.

Then Michigan State stepped in the way. The Spartans topped Ohio State and the SEC’s Auburn will face Florida State in the national title game.

Not only that, but the SEC lands the No. 3 team in the country, Alabama, in another BCS bowl automatically, and ends the year occupying nearly half of the BCS’s top 10.

And so the BCS ends just like it was supposed to — granting 10 berths to 10 teams from the “power” conferences, though the AAC might have lost its claim to power long before it lost its “Big East” name.

The Big 10 and Pac-12 champions will meet in the Rose Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl will feature the Big 12′s champion. And the Sugar Bowl will get the replacement team of its dreams in Alabama. The BCS worked just like it should have, whether you liked it or not. We were just trying to make sense of it as it was handed down.

Some times we could, some times we couldn’t.

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The last-ever BCS rankings:

Final BCS Standings — December 8th

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Some thoughts:

• BCS Know How’s Projected BCS vs. Actual BCS Rankings
  • Not a great final showing, so be it! This is too much fun to be sad about.
• Again, we’re looking at a much different BCS Know How moving forward. We’ll figure it out after bowl season, which should actually be a ton of fun. Check out the non-BCS bowl schedule, too, if you’re looking for some interesting action.